Historiae Mundi Studies in Universal History

by Fear, Andrew; Liddel, Peter P.

• ISBN13: 9780715638330
• ISBN10: 0715638335
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-03-25
• Publisher: Bristol Classical Pr

Summary

Universal History is a type of history that attempts to explain the world beyond the immediate surroundings of the author. It reflects a desire to synthesise the mass of written and oral knowledge about the past and to introduce a systematic interpretation. The purpose of this collection is to re-examine the notion of Universal Historiography with a focus on its appearance in the Greek and Roman world and on the legacy that ancient authors offered to later generations. Fifteen new essays by a diverse set of international scholars tackle questions of definition, and illustrate the diversity of its forms, structures, themes and analyses. The collection explores the historical and intellectual contexts which gave rise to universalist thought, and its reputation and reception in antiquity and beyond. This book will be of interest to those interested in Graeco-Roman historiography, and those with an interest in the Arabic, Early Christian and modern reception of ancient historiography. Contributors: Errietta Bissa (University of Wales, Lampeter); Tim Cornell (University of Manchester); Allegra de Laurentiis (State University of New York at Stony Brook); Marco Di Branco (University of Basilicata); Jackie Elliott (University of Colorado at Boulder); Johannes Engels (University of Cologne), John Farrenkopf (Wofford College, Spartanburg, South Carolina), Andrew Fear (University of Manchester); Marta García Morcillo (University of Leicester); Francois Hartog (École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris); Peter Liddel (University of Manchester); Clemence Schultze (University of Durham); Brian Sheridan (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Peter Van Nuffelen (University of Ghent); Liv Mariah Yarrow (Brooklyn College, City University of New York).

Author Biography

Contributors: Errietta Bissa (University of Wales, Lampeter); Tim Cornell (University of Manchester); Allegra de Laurentiis (State University of New York at Stony Brook); Marco Di Branco (University of Basilicata); Jackie Elliott (University of Colorado at Boulder); Johannes Engels (University of Cologne), John Farrenkopf (Wofford College, Spartanburg, South Carolina), Andrew Fear (University of Manchester); Marta Garcia Morcillo (University of Leicester); Francois Hartog (Aecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales, Paris); Peter Liddel (University of Manchester); Clemence Schultze (University of Durham); Brian Sheridan (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Peter Van Nuffelen (University of Exeter); Liv Yarrow (Brooklyn College, City University of New York).

Table of Contents

Contributors	p. vii
Preface	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Metabole Politeion as Universal Historiography	p. 15
Polybius and the First Universal History	p. 30
Diodorus' Reading of Polybius' Universalism	p. 41
Diodorus' Good Statesman and State Revenue	p. 56
Strabo and the Development of Ancient Greek Universal Historiography	p. 71
The Glory of Italy and Rome's Universal Destiny in Strabo's Geographika	p. 87
Universal History and the Early Roman Historians	p. 102
Universal and Particular in Velleius Paterculus: Carthage versus Rome	p. 116
Focalised Universality: Contextualising the Genre	p. 131
Ennius as Universal Historian: the Case of the Annales	p. 148
Theology versus Genre? The Universalism of Christian Historiography in Late Antiquity	p. 162
Orosius and Escaping from the Dance of Doom	p. 176
A Rose in the Desert? Late Antique and Early Byzantine Chronicles and the Formation of Islamic Universal Historiography	p. 189
Universal Historiography and World History according to Hegel	p. 207
Spengler, the Modern West, and Roman Decline	p. 221
Index	p. 239
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